TOM DAVIES: The Verdict — Trump Knows More Than All The Generals!

Our blowhard-in-chief has outdone himself in his cold-blooded, uncaring and false statements relating to Puerto Rico.

If you remember World War II, then you remember Gen. George Patton and his tank corps rambling across Europe to show the Nazis the power of right. You’ll also probably remember the Army Corps of Engineers who paved the way for his tanks and the Big Red One providing support and logistics for the drive.

Now, how does this relate to Puerto Rico? Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island and unincorporated U.S. territory with a landscape of mountains, waterfalls and the El Yunque tropical rainforest. In San Juan, the capital and largest city, the Isla Verde area is known for its hotel strip, beach bars and casinos. Its Old San Juan neighborhood features colorful Spanish colonial buildings and El Morro and La Fortaleza, massive, centuries-old fortresses.

Puerto Rico is 100 miles by 35 miles in area, and its currency is the U.S. dollar. Capital San Juan has a population of 3.41 million as of 2016.

The citizens are Americans. However, if they wish to exercise their right to vote, they must leave the island and return to the U.S. mainland to do so.

When the Category 5 Hurricane Maria basically destroyed the island, the reaction from 45 was predictable and irresponsible.

For six days, while the Puerto Ricans suffered without food, water, electricity, medical services and supplies, how did El Doofus 45 spend his time? He tweeted his opinions on the NFL protests, thereby deflecting attention from his own looming personal problems. He did likewise with the hurricane victims by attacking the mayor of San Juan, who was pleading for help. Again, he deflected attention away from the Mueller probe!

Our Deflector in Chief has no moral compass. The man whom he finally put in charge, three-star Gen. Jeff Buchanan, has said he’s never seen such damage. Meanwhile, El Dumbo was complaining that the citizens were asking others to do their job — when, in fact, just the opposite was and is true.

While it’s true that FEMA did provide food, medical supplies, generators and medical supplies to the airports and docks of the country for a prior hurricane, what our smarter-than-all-the-generals president did not do was direct the military to provide what was necessary to enable the country to start to rebound. That greatly compounded the problems. Without telephone and electrical service, the citizens had no means of communication. They did what they could, and many died in the process.

Imagine being a diabetic in need of insulin. Think of individuals with lung problems and all kinds of life-threatening conditions that require electrical-powered medical equipment and medical staff.

With heat in the range of 90 to 110 degrees, and without air conditioning, water and food, how were these people were supposed to take care of themselves?

Had Generalissimo 45 consulted with real generals, he might have learned the following: Combat engineers are required to repair and prepare the roads, bridges and air strips for heavy equipment and other military support. We understood that even back in World War II.

Take a little walk through history. Google “bailey bridges,” and look at pictures of some of the bridges that were constructed from those days through current military engagements. You will see spans of all types, lengths and conditions.

Though desperately needed supplies were stockpiled at airports and harbors in Puerto Rico, the roads were inaccessible. Access to airports was limited. The number of helicopters, essential to provide supplies to outlying rural areas, was totally insufficient.

Had the military immediately brought in combat engineers, they could have put their experience in repairing roads and bridges into action immediately. In the process, they’d have gotten those stockpiled supplies out of the airports and docks to the people who still need them.

I hope it’s true that things have improved, but it’s not nearly fast enough. While El Chumpo spent his time relaxing at his personal golf course (at taxpayer expense), the mayor of Puerto Rico who called him out was in waders plodding through flooded areas looking for survivors.

Remember when President Obama took a vacation and 45 said that, if he’d been president, he wouldn’t have time for vacations? Yeah, I remember that, too. We all should have known 45 was lying, as his lips were moving when he said that.

I apologize to those who think no one should speak about an American president like I do, but I have never suffered liars and fools, and he is both. The people of Puerto Rico, our fellow Americans, deserve much better than they have received.

When 45 visits the island this week, may he leave his air-conditioned comfort and go into the rural areas. He needs to personally view all those people he has been condemning and the conditions they find themselves in … through absolutely no fault of their own.

They deserve better, and so do we. The Deflector in Chief is doing his best to stir up controversy to keep the Mueller investigation out of the headlines. But sooner or later, he’ll run out of gas. One way or the other, justice will prevail. Amen.

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Tom Davies

Judge Tom Davies wielded the gavel in Fargo's Municipal Court for nearly 40 years, the longest term of any elected official in the city's history, until health problems forced his retirement in 2012. Born in Grand Forks, the UND business and law graduate has lived in Fargo since 1956, when his father, Ronald Davies, was appointed a federal judge. The outspoken, irreverent jurist remains an insatiable consumer of news, sharing his observations in Moorhead's weekly newspaper, The Extra … and now here on the Fish blog. As a child, Davies delivered the Grand Forks Herald and sold them on the street corner.
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